The Prime Minister’s Museum and Library, formerly known as Nehru Memorial Museum and Library has formally written to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi requesting the return of personal letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, These were taken by Sonia Gandhi during the UPA government in 2008.
BJP officials have resorted to social media to attack Congress and Sonia Gandhi, saying that the former party president had removed 51 boxes of Jawaharlal Nehru papers that had been “donated” from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in 20 years. In 1971, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial entrusted the letters to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (now PMML).
These papers are of utmost importance as they have historical relevance. According to Kadri, these documents dealt with Nehru’s correspondence with notable individuals, such as Babu Jagjivan Ram, Govind Ballabh Pant, Aruna Asaf Ali, Padmaja Naidu, Edwina Mountbatten, Albert Einstein, and Vijaya Laxmi Pandit.
PMML member Rizwan Kadri urged Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to either obtain the original letters from Sonia Gandhi or produce photocopies or digital versions in a letter dated December 10. This came after Sonia Gandhi had received a similar request in September.
Kardi said, “In September 2024, I wrote to Sonia Gandhi requesting that the 51 boxes that were withdrawn from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in 2008 be returned to the institution or we be allowed to see and scan them or a copy of them be provided to us so that we can study them. Many important letters were there including those of Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Edwina Mountbatten and other important letters related to Indian history…Since there was no response from her side. I requested the leader of the opposition and her son Rahul Gandhi to help us get them back.”
